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UMBEK         / 


Tropical  Trolling 

Two  Tales  of  Trouble 

by 
Arthur  Stjohn  Newberry 


Printed  for  the  Writer  bu 

The  J.  B.  Savage  Company 

Cleveland.  Ohio,  191 1 


To  My    Wife 

A  Very  Present  Help 

in  Trouble 


-M 


3s  H+ 


ON  LINES 


The  line  required  for  trolling  with  the  rod,  for  the  gnat  game 
fishes  of  tlie  tropical  seas,  must  be  a  marvel  of  strength,  lightness  and 
endurance.  The  strain  of  taking  a  tuna  or  tarpon  of  a  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds,  even  from  a  small  and  handv  power  boat,  which  can 
follow  the  fish  and  ease  the  tackle  with  the  engine,  is  enormous.  That 
put  upon  the  line  in  taking  a  fifty-pound  kingfish  or  amber  jack,  from  a 
large  sail  boat,  which  cannot  follow  the  fish  and  requires  the  whole 
work  to  be  done  with  rod  and  reel,  is  probably  equally  great.  In  either 
case  two  or  three  hundred  yards  must  be  wound  on  a  reel  of  reason- 
able size,  and  salt  water  soon  attacks  the  fibre  and  causes  it  to  rot, 
so  that  its  life  cannot  be  very  long.  A  high  class  linen  line  should 
have  a  breaking  stress  of  at  least  two  pounds  per  thread,  and  maintain 
this  strength  for  some  weeks. 

The  spin  of  the  bait  in  trolling  has  a  tendencv  to  untwist  all  cable 
laid  lines  and  cause  them  to  kink.  One  so  untwisted  and  kinked 
must  have  weak  spots,  and  be  liable  to  break  at  much  less  than  the 
strain  that  one,  properlv  twisted  and  unkinked,  will  easily  endure. 
l-'or  such  fishing  a  line  must  have  the  minimum  tendencv  to  unravel 
and  kink  to  do  good  service:  it  should  also  be  dark  in  color,  as  a 
light  colored  line,  in  the  wonderfully  clear  waters  of  the  tropics,  is 
too  noticeable,  and  will  according  to  my  experience  obtain  much 
fewer  strike's  than  one  that  is  green  or  brown.  I  am  satisfied  also 
that  the  coloring  matter  lessens  the  tendency  to  untwist  and  kink  and. 
to  a  considerable  degree,  protects  from  the  rotting  e  fleet  of  salt  water 
and  so  prolongs  the  life  of  the  line. 

The  catalogues  recommend  that  one  should  "set"  his  lines  before 
use.  This  process  consists  in  taking  one  off  the  spool,  winding  it 
on  a  stick  in  kite  string  fashion,  so  that  it  can  be  readily  soaked. 
thoroughly  soaking  it.  stretching  it  on  a  frame,  permitting  it  to  dry 
thoroughly,  and  then  winding  it  upon  the  reel.  Xow  the  time  an  1 
trouble  required  to  so  prepare  two  hundred  vanN  of  line  i<  very 
great,  i  have  found  that  to  "set"  three  Mich  lines  required  a  ni^'ht'- 
soaking,  followed  by  at  least  a  whole  morning's  troublesome  and 
annoying  labor,  as  the  stretching,  drying,  and  reeling  up  can  only 
be  done  bv  dav  and  in  direct  sunlight.  A  slight  -diower.  or  the  dam]) 


S65010 


TROPICAL   TROLLING. 


night  air.  will  undo  most  of  your  work,  which  must  then  be  done 
over  again.  Now  I.  at  least,  want  to  fish  in  my  mornings  and  not  to 
prepare  tackle,  and  it  seems  to  me  manifest  that  all  such  preparatory 
work  should  he  done  by  the  maker  or  dealer,  and  that  the  fisherman 
should  be  able  to  buy  a  line  completely  ready  for  use.  For  such 
no  reasonable  sportsman  would  hesitate  to  pay  an  extra  price,  which 
would  reimburse  the  maker  for  the  extra  labor  and  pay  him  a  good 
profit  besides. 

The  books  also  say  that  all  lines  used  for  salt  water  fishing 
should  be  taken  from  the  reel  each  night,  thoroughly  washed  in  fresh 
water,  allowed  to  dry  completely,  and  then  be  replaced.  Has  any  one 
of  these  writers  tried  it  and  found  out  how  much  labor  this  operation 
requires,  how  the  lines  will  snarl,  and  how  much  time,  which  should 
be  devoted  to  fishing,  one  must  expend  on  this  soul-destroying  occupa- 
tion ?  Let  him  attempt  what  he  so  cheerfully  recommends  to  others, 
and  he  will  know  more  and  talk  less.  ( )f  course  rich  men  can  hire 
others  to  do  the  setting,  washing,  drying  and  replacing,  though  it 
will  be  done-  less  well  than  the  fisherman  would  do  it  himself,  but  my 
experience  has  shown  the  whole  process  to  be  unnecessary,  provided 
honestly  made  lines  are  furnished  for  one's  money. 

Six  years  ago  I  spent  a  month  cruising  among  the  Florida  Keys, 
fishing  near  the  reef  for  the  great  kingfish.  amberjack,  barracuda 
and  groupers.  Five  years  ago  I  spent  nearly  five  months  of  the 
winter  and  early  spring  in  Nassau,  fished  about  eight  hours  a  day, 
from  a  thirty-five  foot  sail  boat,  and  took  kingfish  up  to  fifty-five 
pounds  and  amberjack  up  to  fifty-two.  I  then  could  buy  green  or 
brown  linen  cable  laid  tarpon  lines  of  two  hundred  yards  each,  of 
twenty-one  or  twenty-four  threads,  put  them  on  my  reels  without  any 
"setting,"  never  wash  or  dry  them,  and  find  them  give  excellent 
service  for  about  thirty  days,  with  little  tendency  to  untwist  or  kink. 
After  that  time  it  proved  wise  to  replace  them  by  new  ones  and  this 
liecaine  my  regular  practice.  In  these  two  winters,  at  Nassau  and 
in  Florida,  my  line  broke  only  once,  and  this  was  when  I  had 
neglected  to  exchange  it  for  a  new  one  after  thirty  days  service,  and 
perhaps  was  rather  careless  also.  1  used  but  a  single  large  swivel, 
and  never  found  keel  sinkers,  or  any  similar  device,  necessary  to 
prevent  untwisting  or  kinking. 

I  had  hoped  to  return  to  Nassau  the  following  year  and  break 
my  own  record  on  kingfish,  and  for  that  purpose  then  bought  four  of 
"Hall's  Special  Tarpon"  lines,  but  illness  and  the  panic  of  1!><>T  pre- 


AMBERJACK— 35    Pounds. 


TWO  TALKS  Ol<  TROUHLK.  7 

vented  and  they  lay  among  my  kit  until  tin-  last  winter.  Then.  [ 
again  came  back  to  my  old  fishing  grounds,  full  of  glorious  antici- 
pations, secured  my  former  house,  mv  old  boat  and  crew,  and  started 
to  work,  lie  fore  leaving  1  had  ordered,  from  a  Xew  York  dealer, 
half  a  doxen  "Rex  Tarpon"  lines,  described  in  their  catalogue  as  the 
very  best,  and  also  a  supply  of  swivels  and  keel  sinkers.  Pending 
their  arrival  1  used  the  "Hall"  line-,  purchased  in  IJIOU,  without  ''set- 
ting" or  washing  and  with  but  one  swivel,  and  found  them  give  rather 
more  trouble  than  I  formerlv  had.  in  untwisting  and  kinking,  but 
nothing  very  serious;  still,  when  the  "Rex"  lines  arrived,  about  two 
weeks  after  1  began  fishing.  I  thought  the  "Hall"  lines  unfit  for 
longer  service  and  exchanged  them  for  the  new  ones,  putting  on  also 
keel  sinkers.  I  was  surprised  to  find  the  new  "Rex"  lines  white  or 
nearlv  so,  but  concluded  that  others  knew  l>etter  than  mvself  and  used 
them  with  confidence. 

Then  my  troubles  iK-gan.  A  new  "Rex"  line  would,  in  three 
hours  trolling,  be  untwisted  into  three  parallel  strand-  for  the  lower 
seventy-five  yards  of  its  length,  would  kink  in  a  most  extraordinary 
manner  and.  in  spite  of  increasing  the  swivels  to  three,  putting  on 
keel  sinkers,  and  reversing  each  day.  was  likely  to  break,  under  a 
very  moderate  strain,  on  the  second  or  third  day.  I  rigged  up  on 
my  rear  porch,  with  great  trouble,  a  place  where  I  could  -tretch  and  dry 
lines,  and  went  through  the  laborious  and  time-devouring  process  of 
setting  them,  of  course  only  possible  in  the  dav  time,  but  obtained 
little  improvement.  Thinking  that  the  white  color  and  lack  of  dve, 
might  account  for  the  difficulty.  I  wrote  at  once  for  more  "Hall's" 
lines  but,  partly  through  the  ,-lowne--  of  the  parcels  post,  which 
comes  to  Xas-au  but  once  in  two  weeks,  these  did  not  arrive 
until  over  six  weeks  after  they  were  ordered,  and  then  proved 
great! v  inferior  to  those  bought  four  year-  ago.  with  which  I  had 
begun  the  season.  In  desperation  I  had  meanwhile  sent  over  to 
.Miami  tor  the  best  green  tarpon  line-  they  could  tunu-li.  and  got 
some  "(lull  Tarpon  '  line-,  bearing  the  name  ot  the  "Simmon-  Hard- 
ware Companv."  of  St.  Louis.  Mi--otiri.  These  did  a  very  little 
Ix'tter  service  than  the  "Rex."  but  were  greatlv  intcric>r  to  the  older 
"Hall's."  unraveling  and  breaking  in  a  mo-t  distressing  manner. 

I  first  used  two  "Rex"  lines  "unset."  The  fir-t  one  was  so  badlv 
untwisted  and  kinked,  after  a  half  dav'-  ti-liing,  that  I  revcr-ed  it  on 
my  reel,  putting  the  unu-ed  portion  at  the  outer  end.  I  then  u-ed 


TROPICAL   TROLLING. 


it  for  two  days  more,  reversing  it  each  day,  when  it  hroke  at  the  strike 
of  a  moderate  sized  fish.  The  second  "unset"  "Rex"'  broke  about 
two  hours  after  I  put  it  on  the  reel.  The  other  four  "Rex"  I 
"set"  and  found  these  give  very  varying  results.  One  of  them 
broke  the  first  day  I  used  it,  the  others  lasted  several  days  each, 
although  it  was  necessary  to  reverse  them  every  day,  and  in  less  than 
two  weeks  all  of  the  six  "Rex"  lines  were  unfit  for  service. 

The  first  "Gulf  Tarpon  Line,"  used  "unset,"  encouraged  me  very 
much,  giving  good  service  for  the  first  day.  The  next  day  I  took  off  a 
"Rex,"  from  one  of  my  other  reels  and  put  a  new  "Gulf  Tarpon"  on 
it.  This  broke  at  the  first  strike  I  had.  I  then  took  off  the 
"unset"  lines  and  substituted  "set"  "Gulf  Tarpon"  lines.  These  gave 
better  service  than  the  "unset,"  but  still  untwisted,  unraveled,  kinked 
and  broke.  I  reversed  them  every  day  and  managed  to  catch  some 
fish  with  them,  but  never  could  trust  them. 

Of  the  new  lot  of  "Halls,"  received  only  a  few  days  before  leav- 
ing Nassau,  I  went  through  the  process  of  "setting"  one,  and  found 
that  the  soaking  removed  a  very  large  part  of  the  coloring  matter. 
After  careful  setting  and  drying  I  used  this  line  for  two  days  with 
great  caution,  reversed  it  every  night,  and  on  the  third  day  it  broke 
at  the  strike  of  a  moderate  sized  fish.  I  did  not  dare  to  use  any  of  the 
other  "Hall"  lines,  brought  them  back  home  with  me,  and  returned 
them  to  the  seller. 

The  best  lines  I  had  during  the  winter  were  two  green  tarpon 
lines,  bearing  the  name  "E.  Yom  Hofe,"  costing  considerably  less  than 
any  oMhe  others,  but  even  these  were  very  far  from  good,  enormously 
inferior  to  those  of  five  years  ago.  unraveled  and  kinked  badly,  and 
broke  frequently.  Toward  the  end  of  my  stay  T  always  cut  off  the 
lower  ten  or  twelve  feet,  after  one  day's  use.  always  doubled  the  lower 
ten  feet  before  using,  watched  very  carefully  for  weak  spots  and, 
when  one  showed,  cut  it  out  and  knotted  the  line,  used  keel  sinkers 
and  three  large  swivels,  and  yet  continually  got  wretched  service. 

The  big  kingfish  were  very  late  in  arriving  this  year,  perhaps 
because  the  season  was  unusually  cold,  and  all  fish  seemed  very  scarce, 
so  up  to  April  thirteenth,  when  I  left  Xassau,  1  had  only  hooked  eight 
large  ones.  One  was  lost  by  the  excitement  of  my  skipper,  one  tore 
the  hook  out  of  its  mouth,  and  six  broke  my  lines  short  off,  in  spite  of 
the  v?ry  greatest  care  I  could  use. 

During  the  whole  winter  1  caught  only  one  kingfish  over  twelve 
pounds,  and  this  was  three  days  before  leaving.  He  was  forty-eight 


TWO  TALI'S  OF  TROUBLE. 


inches  long,  weighed  thirty  pounds,  and  was  hooked  in  the  middle  of 
the  belly.  Of  course  he  made  a  most  furious  fight,  repeatedly  ran 
out  nearly  the  whole  two  hundred  yards,  got  under  the  l>oat,  and  was 
only  kept  from  cutting  off  the  line  on  the  keel  by  plunging  my  rod 
straight  down  into  the  water.  It  took  at  least  forty-five  minutes  to 
kill  him.  Fvery  moment  of  this  time  I  felt  that  the  line  was  liable 
to  fail  me,  and  the  fish  was  only  landed  by  the  greatest  care. 

I  can  only  explain  this  disastrous  and  infuriating  experience  by 
supposing  that  manufacturers  have  been  led,  by  competition  or  greed  for 
greater  profit,  to  use  inferior  material  and  lalxir,  so  that  such  abuses 
have  arisen  as,  in  another  field  of  trade,  the  "Pure  Food  and  Drugs 
Act"  has  done  so  much  to  remedy.  The  abominable  notion,  that  the 
markets  of  the  world  are  for  the  benefit  of  the  producer  and  seller 
only,  and  that  the  consumer  and  buyer  have  no  rights  at  all,  which 
has  done  such  grave  harm  in  other  industries,  seems  to  have  extended 
its  baleful  influence  over  the  tackle  trade  also.  Of  course  such  an 
idea  leads  directly  to  fraud  of  all  kinds,  to  the  extortions  of  monopolv. 
the  follies  of  the  tariff,  and  countless  kindred  evils.  These  can  be 
overcome  only  by  informing  and  directing  that  Public  Opinion,  which 
is  the  court  of  last  resort  in  this  country,  and  the  onlv  method  of 
successfully  doing  this  is  by  Publicity,  by  throwing  light  into  the 
dark  places. 

That  thoroughly  reliable  lines  can  be  made  and  sold,  at  a  reason- 
able price,  is  conclusively  shown  by  my  experience  of  five  years  ago, 
and  a  dealer  or  maker  who  will  furnish  such  trustworthy  lines  can 
have  from  me  any  reasonable  price  he  asks.  I  want  good  lines,  regard- 
less of  cost,  and  appeal  to  all  my  fellow  sportsmen  to  help  me  find 
them,  if  thev  can  be  now  had.  and,  if  not,  to  join  me  in  a  crusade  that 
will  produce  them.  Let  us  all  condemn,  in  print  and  giving  full  names 
of  lines,  maker  and  dealer,  such  tackle  as  we  have  found  bad,  and, 
in  the  same  wav  praise  such  as  we  have  found  good.  I  am  sure  that 
the  columns  of  all  our  papers  devoted  to  sport  will  be  o]vn  to  us  for 
this  worth v  purpose. 

!  have  not  written  this  article,  nor  do  I  propose  the  above  sug- 
gested course  to  my  brother  fishermen,  for  the  purpose  of  wreaking 
vengeance'  on  anv  one,  but  want  to  use-,  and  have  oilier  fishermen  u-e. 
the  great  weapon  ot  "publicity"  for  the  protection  ot  fishermen,  honest 
dealers,  and  honest  manufacturers,  against  dishonest  manufacturers 
who  cheapen  their  product  by  using  inferior  material  and  labor,  and 
dishonest  dealers,  who  sell  something  thev  know  to  be  inferior.  <  V 


10  TROPICAL   TROLLING. 


course,   the   dealer  may  be   also  deceived,   so  a   time   limit  might  be 
allowed  before  dealers  are  denounced  by  name. 

I  have  dealt  with  Messrs.  Abercrombie  &  Fitch  for  many  years, 
and  have  found  them  most  courteous  and  accommodating,  and  never 
until  this  winter  have  I  got  bad  material  from  them.  I  wrote  them 
fully,  stating  my  experience.  They  expressed  great  regret  and 
volunteered  to  take  back  all  goods  purchased  from  them,  which  proved 
unsatisfactory,  and  refund  the  full  price,  but  this  does  not  cover  the 
case.  If  I  buy  a  line  for  three  dollars,  and  hook  and  lose  a  record 
fish  through  its  failure,  a  refund  of  three  dollars  or  a  payment  of 
three  hundred  dollars,  or  any  money  sum  whatever,  would  not  satisfy 
me.  What  fishermen  want,  especially  those  who  are  exercising  their 
craft  in  distant  regions,  where  no  supplies  can  be  had  and  communi- 
cations are  slow  and  uncertain,  is  tackle  that  can  be  depended  upon 
and  not  a  claim  for  damages. 

I  also  wrote  to  the  Simmons  Hardware  Company,  of  St.  Louis, 
reporting  the  unsatisfactory  results  obtained  with  the  goods  bearing 
their  name,  but  have  not  yet  received  even  the  courtesy  of  a  reply. 

I  had  other  experience  with  unsatisfactory  tackle  and  other  trials 
on  this  trip,  which  really  made  it  memorable  for  misfortune,  and  these 
I  shall  describe  in  a  future  article,  but  the  present  one  is  devoted  to 
the  subject  of  lines  only. 

The  following  seem  to  me  established  as  conclusions  : 

1.  The  lines  now  made  and  sold  for  tropical  trolling  are  enorm- 
ously inferior  to  those  obtained  five  years  ago. 

2.  All  linen  lines  should  be  sold  "set"  and  ready  to  put  on  the 
reel,  and  fishermen  should  refuse  to  buy  any  others. 

3.  All  linen  lines,  for  salt  water  trolling  in  the  tropics,  should 
be  dark  colored,  never  white  or  natural  color. 

4.  The  cable  laid  linen  line  is,  and  must  always  be,  unsuitable 
for  trolling,  on  account  of  its  tendency  to  untwist  and  kink. 

A  braided  linen  line,  if  of  the  best  quality  and  made  with  the  great- 
est care,  might  give  much  better  service.  Whether  a  braided  line  can  be 
made  of  the  same  strength  as  a  cable  laid  line,  without  much,  if  any, 
increase  of  size.  I  have  no  means  of  knowing  and  should  like  to  be 
informed.  If  so  I  am  ready  and  anxious  to  buy  a  lot  of  them. 

Next  year  I  shall  again  avoid  the  northern  winter  by  going  back 
to  the  tropics,  and  to  where  good  fishing  can  be  found,  and  do  not 


KINGFISH — 30   Pounds. 


MY   HOUSE  AND   GARDEN. 


TWO  TALUS  Ol;  TROl-KLl-..  11 


want  to  waste  the  coming  winter  as  the  last  one  was  wasted,  so  I 
appeal  to  my  fellow  sportsmen,  and  to  all  dealers  in  an  1  makers  of 
angling  snoods  who  have  learned  that  a  pleased  customer  i>  the  l>e>t 
advertisement,  to  help  me  to  find  trustworthy  tackle,  and  to  aid  their 
fishing-  friends,  known  and  unknown,  to  avoid  such  an  infuriating 
experience  as  that  I  have  just  passed  through. 

Cleveland,  Ohio,  June  '.'Ttli.  1!H1. 


TROUBLE  IN  THE  TROPICS 

The  winter  of  l!t()-")-li  ]  spent  in  Nassau  and  found  there  a 
most  picturesque  island,  a  perfect  climate,  much  natural  and  artificial 
beauty,  much  pleasant  company  and  particularly  good  fi-hing, 
and  the  latter  was  described  in  the  columns  of  r<»'cst  and  Stream 
shortly  after  my  return.  My  time  was  devoted  chiefly  to  trolling 
for  the  great  tropical  game  fish,  kingfish,  amber  jack,  barracuda, 
and  others,  using  tarpon  tackle  and  a  thirty-five  foot,  two-masted, 
pilot  boat  named  the  "Kestrel."  The  winds  were  regular,  so 
that  the  boat  almost  always  traveled  at  sufficient  speed,  and  calms  or 
very  high  winds  were  infrequent.  The  sea  was  free  from  gulf  weed. 
which  when  present  in  any  quantity  is  a  terrible  nuisance.  I'ait 
could  be  readily  procured  and  fish  were  plentiful.  My  lines,  rods 
and  reels  also  gave  excellent  service.  I  had  a  spacious  and  con- 
venient house  on  a  ridge  overlooking  the  harbor,  a  garden  full  of 
grapefruit,  oranges,  cocoanut  palms  and  roses,  and  altogether,  both 
for  comfort,  convenience  and  sport,  found  it  the  most  delightful  place 
imaginable.  \Yhen  tired  of  trolling,  one  could  anchor  and  catch  plenty 
of  the  beautiful,  strange  and  brilliantly  colored  fish  of  the  tropics, 
so  that  the  bottom  of  the  boat  after  fishing  looked  like  a  tlower  garden. 

Xassau  seemed  to  me  an  ideal  place  to  pass  the  winter,  and  I 
vowed  never  again  to  see  a  llake  of  snow  if  it  could  be  helped,  but 
rather  serious  illness  prevented  my  returning  the  following  year. 
Then  came  on  the  panic  of  1!M)T,  with  the  depression  succeed- 
ing, when  every  business  man  had  to  devote  all  his  time  and  energy 
to  strictly  necessary  business.  l.ut  at  last  such  trouble-  settled 
themselves,  health  was  largely  restored,  and  1  expected  that 
one  more  winter  in  the  tropics  would  make  me  absolutely  well.  1  was 
fortunate  enough  to  be  able  to  again  engage  the  house,  boat  and  crew 
of  my  former  year,  and  early  in  January  started  off  with  the  happiest 
of  anticipations. 

\Ye  sailed  into  the  harbor  on  a  jx'rfect.  brilliant  morning,  over 
the  turquoise,  opal  and  sapphire  water  and,  among  the  crowd  swarm- 
ing to  meet  the  steamer,  was  my  old  Captain,  John  Harrow,  who 
welcomed  me  with  a  most  gratifving  heartiness.  \\  e  lound  the 


14  TROPICAL  TROLLING. 

house  completely  ready  for  us  and,  through  the  great«kindness  of  its 
owner,  equipped  \vith  servants  and  supplies,  so  that  we  could  settle 
down  at  once.  It  had  been  improved  by  the  addition  of  mosquito 
screens,  being  the  only  house  in  Nassau  so  equipped,  and  a  telephone 
and  electric  light,  since  our  former  visit.  The  trees  in  the  garden 
were  laden  with  grapefruit  and  oranges,  the  roses  and  hibiscus  were 
in  full  bloom,  and  we  at  once  felt  completely  at  home  again. 

But  this  delightful  beginning  was  succeeded  by  a  series  of  vexa- 
tions and  annoyances  so  far  unmatched  in  my  experience.  Nassau  has 
an  infertile  soil  and  very  little  productive  industry,  so  that  wages  are 
excessively  low  and  it  is  often  impossible  for  a  laborer  to  get  work  at 
all.  In  the  past  five  years  these  conditions  have  produced  their 
inevitable  result.  Many  of  the  best  and  most  energetic  of  the  popula- 
tion, both  white  and  black,  had  emigrated  to  the  United  States, 
those  engaged  in  any  class  of  business  were  fewer  and  the  most 
enterprising  of  them  had  already  gone.  The  fishermen  supplying 
the  market  were  fewer  than  formerly,  and  perhaps  they  were  less 
diligent  and  efficient  also,  the  result  being  that  the  "goggle-eye,"  which 
small  fish  is  generally  used  for  bait,  was  scarcely  and  irregularly 
supplied,  and  it  was  often  impossible  to  get  them  on  days 
\vhen  everything  else  w-as  favorable.  After  many  annoying  experi- 
ences of  this  kind  I  met  this  difficulty  by  arranging  to  get  a  supply  of 
bait,  whenever  possible,  and  have  it  kept  on  ice,  and  such  cold  storage 
baits,  while  they  were  not  quite  so  good  as  fresh  ones,  seemed  to 
answer  reasonably  well. 

When  this  difficulty  was  disposed  of  and  I  was  able  to  go  out 
regularly,  fish  proved  to  be  much  less  plentiful  than  they  had  formerly 
been.  Whether  this  was  due  to  a  rather  unusually  cold  winter  or  to 
some  other  reason  I  cannot  tell.  The  temperature  never  fell  to  much 
below  seventy,  even  during  the  night,  but  tropical  fish  are  extremely 
sensitive  to  cold  and  even  a  slight  drop  in  temperature  will  drive 
them  away  or  prevent  their  biting.  I  had  been  accustomed  to  find 
good  sport  just  outside  the  mouth  of  the  harbor  and  all  along  the 
shore  for  twenty  miles  or  more,  but  this  year  there  seemed  to  be  no 
fish  anywhere  near  the  harbor's  month  and  grounds,  which  had  been 
most  prolific  in  the  former  season,  yielded  nothing  whatever  to  the 
most  painstaking  effort. 

The  winds,  on  which  we  depended  entirely  for  propelling  power, 
and  which  had  been  so  steady  five  years  ago,  were  also  very  variable 
and  uncertain.  On  manv  davs  we  were  unable  to  fish  because  the 


AMBEKJACK — 43    Fount 


TWO  TALES  OP  TROUBLE.  15 

wind  was  too  high  and  very  frequently,  after  getting  outside  with  a 
good  breeze,  it  would  drop  away  to  little  or  nothing  and  our  boat 
would  float  around  in  a  calm,  helpless  and  useless  so  far  as  fi>hing  was 
concerned.  When  other  troubles  were  not  present,  when  I  had  bait, 
when  the  wind  blew  and  when  the  fish  seemed  in  biting  humor,  the 
yellow  gulf  weed  would  come  down  from  the  north,  cover  the  >ea 
with  great  masses  of  floating  herbage,  and  one  would  pass  most  of  his 
time  in  reeling  up  his  long  line,  disentangling  weed,  and  putting  out 
again.  Of  course,  a  bait  with  a  weed  on  it  will  not  be  touched  bv  any 
self-respecting  fish  and  to  haul  in  and  let  out  again  a  hundred  yards  of 
line  takes  a  considerable  amount  of  time,  so  that  much  of  my  fishing 
days  would  be  wasted  in  this  way. 

All  these  difficulties  arose  from  the  caprices  of  Nature1,  and 
had  to  be  endured,  but  unfortunately  I  also  .suffered  from  troubles 
which  were  the  result  of  the  carelessness,  if  not  the  dishonest}',  of  man. 
My  tackle  was  selected  with  the  greatest  care,  guided  by  the  experi- 
ence of  past  tropical  fishing,  and  was  supposed  to  be  of  the  verv  best, 
but  proved  in  many  respects  untrustworthy.  The  worst  offenders 
in  this  respect  were  inv  lines,  which  broke,  snarled,  tangled,  kinked. 
and  committed  every  other  sort  of  crime  in  a  manner  which  was 
entirely  beyond  my  experience.  As  I  have  elsewhere  described  this 
particular  trouble,  my  grievances  in  this  respect  will  not  be  repeated 
here,  but  this  was  far  from  the  only  defect  in  my  outfit,  landing  that 
mv  two  large  reels  were  not  sufficient  1  ordered  a  new  tarpon  reel, 
fitted  with  a  "rabbeth  drag"  and  costing  thirty  dollars,  from  Aber- 
crombie  &  Fitch,  of  Xew  \<n~}<  .\\hen  this  reel  arrived  it  had  no 
safety  catch  or  pawl,  to  engage  with  the  teeth  on  the  central  screw, 
which  holds  the  drag  upon  the  reel.  The  result  of  this  was  that,  the 
instant  a  fish  struck  and  began  to  whirl  the  friction  disc,  this  central 
nut  would  loosen  itself  and,  unless  1  kept  constantly  tightening  it  up 
with  a  screw  driver  or  my  fingers,  would  almost  certainly  come  off 
and  take  the  whole  reel  handle  with  it.  It  was  inexcusable  to  send  this 
reel  with  this  old  style  friction  plate,  without  a  pawl  on  it.  when  the 
new  stvle,  with  a  pawl,  are  kept  regularly  in  stuck,  but  1  wrote  at 
once  for  a  new  style  plate  and  tried  to  use  the  reel  meanwhile.  (  )i\ 
the  second  dav.  while  playing  a  good  fish,  the  click  broke  short  off.  the 
broken  part  jammed  the  reel  so  that  it  could  not  be  used  and  mv  fish 
was  promptly  lost.  On  investigation  1  found  a  very  marked  flaw  in 
the  click.  The  reel  being  now  useless,  had  to  be  packed  up  and  sent 
oft"  north  to  IK-  mended.  It  must  IK'  borne  in  mind  that  Xassau  is 


16  TROPICAL   TROLLING. 


about  a  thousand  miles  from  Xew  York,  that  all  merchandise  is  sent 
by  parcels  post,  and  that  steamers  carrying  parcels  post  packages 
leave  New  York  only  once  in  two  weeks  or  so.  Therefore,  it  must 
take  more  than  a  month  to  get  this  reel  north,  repaired  and  back  to 
me,  and  I  was  in  fact  deprived  of  its  use  for  nearly  six  weeks. 

As  a  substitute  for  bait  I  had  bought  a  number  of  the 
"Sam"  spoons  of  large  size,  a  spoon  being  serviceable  and  effect- 
ive whenever  the  wind  is  reasonably  strong  and  the  motion  of  the 
boat  rapid,  and  being  in  some  ways  preferable  to  bait,  because  it 
is  not  cut  by  the  teeth  of  a  fish  striking  and  consequently  does  not 
have  to  be  hauled  in  and  renewed.  The  "Sam"  was  more  lively 
and  active  in  the  water  than  any  spoon  I  have  ever  seen,  but  developed 
three  very  grave  faults.  First ;  they  tarnished  so  badly  that,  after  a 
few  hours'  use,  one  had  to  scrub  them  with  specially  made  scouring 
cloths  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  in  order  to  get  them  decently 
bright.  Second ;  they  were  fitted  with  the  "Van  Meek''  hook, 
which  has  an  incurved  point.  Whether  on  account  of  this  or 
some  other  reason  they  did  not  fasten  fish  well,  and  I  got  a  large  num- 
ber of  strikes  on  these  spoons  without  hooking  the  fish.  Third  ;  the 
ring  of  the  hook,  which  fastened  into  a  strong  loop  of  metal  on  the 
spoon,  proved  altogether  too  weak.  The  hooks  wore  away  very 
rapidly  and,  on  at  least  two  occasions,  very  heavy  fish  were  lost  through 
the  breaking  of  hooks  at  this  point. 

Becoming  disgusted  with  the  unsatisfactory  results  of  trolling, 
bottom  fishing  was  tried.  Fish  seemed  to  be  unusually  scarce  and, 
what  I  had  never  known  before,  sharks  were  unusually  plenty.  Going 
out  for  a  day,  after  taking  two  or  three  fish  one  was<  likely  to 
have  his  hooks  bitten  oft"  by  a  shark,  and  could  not  escape  these 
miserable  brutes,  either  because  they  followed  when  ground  was 
changed  or  because  they  were  so  numerous  that  there  was  always  a 
new  one  handy.  Bottom  fishing,  therefore,  was  in  every  way  a  failure 
and  not  worth  the  trouble  it  cost. 

On  one  particular  day  T  invited  three  ladies  to  go  out  with  my 
wife  and  myself,  expecting  to  fish  for  a  while  and  then  sail  up  to 
the  end  of  the  island,  land,  eat  our  luncheon  there,  and  have  a  pleasant 
sail  back.  The  wind  became  so  light  that  it  took  at  least  two  hours 
to  get  to  the  fishing  ground.  Finally  we  got  our  lines  down  and  took 
one  or  two  porgies,  when  the  usual  shark  arrived.  I  was  using  my 
tarpon  rod  and  a  twenty-four  thread  line  with  comparatively  small 
hooks.  After  biting  off  one  or  two  of  other  baits,  the  shark  came  to 


TWO  TALUS  Of'  TROUBLE. 


me,  was  hooked,  played  a  while,  straightened  out  my  small  hooks  and 
departed.  I  then  put  on  a  steel  wire  leader  with  larger  hooks,  prompt- 
ly hooked  him  again,  and  played  him  for  some  fifteen  minutes,  once 
bringing  him  up  into  view  and  seeing  that  he  was  about  ten  feet 
long.  After  having  pretty  thoroughly  tired  me  out  he  bit  my  win- 
leader  off  and  left.  We  then  shifted  our  ground  a  half  mile,  but 
either  this  shark  or  another  one  promptly  turned  up  and  repeated  the 
process.  We  gave  up  fishing  as  useless  and  tried  to  eat  luncheon, 
but  the  boat  wobbled  round  in  the  hot  sun  and  uneasy  swell,  most 
uncomfortably,  and  all  of  my  guests  grew  seasick.  Finally  I  bad  to 
put  the  crew  in  our  small  boat,  rig  a  tow  line,  and  be  ignominiously 
hauled  about  two  miles  into  the  harbor. 

As  may  be  readily  seen,  with  the  combination  of  all  these  diffi- 
culties, fishing  for  the  first  two  months  of  my  stay  was  generally 
unproductive,  doing  there  with  the  especial  purpose  of  beating  my 
own  record  for  kingfish,  fifty-five  pounds,  in  that  time  I  caught  very 
few  kingfish  at  all  and  none  over  twelve  pounds.  During  the  last 
month  the  fish  were  more  numerous  and  I  did  book  in  all  eight  heavy 
kingfish.  One  of  these  escaped  through  the  excitement  of  Captain 
John,  who  devoted  himself  to  telling  me  how  to  fish  instead  of  to 
managing  bis  boat,  one  tore  the  hook  out  of  his  mouth,  and  six  were 
lost  by  the  breaking  of  my  lines. 

It  should  be  said  here  that  the  play  of  the  kingfish,  especially  one 
•of  anv  considerable  size,  is  unmistakable.  He  strikes  with  a  ferocious 
rush  which  may  take  a  hundred  yards  or  more  off  the  reel,  then  he 
will  become  somewhat  quiescent  and  can  be  reeled  back  part  way 
toward  the  boat.  Then  comes  another  rush,  and  such  rushes  and 
periods  of  comparative  inactivity  succeed  each  other  until  he  is  brought 
near  the  side.  When  the  fish  first  sees  the  boat  there  is  invariably  a 
tremendous  rush.  The  fisherman  must  guard  against  this,  bv  keep- 
ing his  rod  up  and  his  line  free,  or  something  is  practically  sure  to 
break.  During  the  whole  winter  I  took  only  one  kingfish  exceeding 
twelve  pounds  in  weight,  and  this  was  a  spotted  kingfish,  \.  ;rN'<;.'/.\. 
forty-eight  inches  long  and  weighing  thirty  pounds.  In  some  strange 
way  he  was  hooked  just  in  front  of  the  amal  tin.  naturally  made  a  most 
tremendous  fight,  and  was  only  gaffed  after  more  than  a  half  hour's 
play.  His  picture  appears  herewith. 

Of  course  in  so  many  days  of  effort  I  had  to  catch  some  king- 
fish,  and  one  of  the  pictures  accompanying  this  article  shows  the  stern 
of  the  "Kestrel."  with  mv  crew  holding  up  four  that  ran  from  seven 


18  TROPICAL  TROLLING. 


to  ten  pounds  each.  At  the  left  of  the  picture  appears  my  rod,  with 
the  handle  of  the  friction-clutch  reel  made  fast  by  a  loop  of  the  jib- 
sheet,  the  rod  being1  stayed  out  overside  by  my  tackle  box.  When 
busy  with  other  matters  I  used  to  rig  out  the  rod  in  this  way.  If  a 
fish  struck  the  motion  of  the  boat  would  hook  him,  the  click  would 
sound  an  alarm,  and  one  could  slip  the  rod  from  its  fastening  and  play 
him  as  usual.  ( "Mi  the  rail  around  the  cockpit,  on  the  left  side,  appears 
a  little  device  of  my  own.  consisting  of  a  large  wire  nail  holding  a 
spool  against  which  the  rod  is  rested.  This  relieves  the  left  arm 
from  the  strain  of  trolling  and  is  extremely  useful,  as  that  arm  does 
practically  all  the  work  in  playing  a  fish  and  should  be  kept  unfatigued 
for  that  purpose.  At  the  right  of  the  cockpit  are  two  extra  rods,  one 
of  which  has  a  new  bait  ready  for  use,  should  the  other  bait  be  struck 
and  cut,  and  the  second  one  is  fitted  with  a  large  spoon,  to  be  used  in 
case  the  wind  rises  enough  to  give  sufficient  speed  to  make  the  spoon 
effective. 

Big  amber  jack,  most  powerful  of  fishes,  were  not  uncommon, 
and  we  took  a  number  of  these  up  to  forty-three  pounds,  but  the 
large  amberjack,  though  a  tremendously  quick  and  powerful  fish,  is 
worthless  after  you  catch  him,  being  tough  in  flesh  and  also  very 
likely  to  be  poisonous,  producing  the  very  serious  disease  called 
"ciguatera."  T  have  a  theory  that  a  really  game  fish  must  be  shy  and 
difficult  to  attract,  powerful  and  active  when  hooked,  beautiful  to  look 
at,  and  good  to  eat  after  you  get  him,  and  therefore  that  the  amberjack 
and  tarpon,  which  are  tremendously  strong  and  active  but  worthless  or 
dangerous  as  food,  do  not  strictly  come  within  this  category.  As  I 
have  never  caught  a  tarpon  it  may,  however,  seem  presumptuous  for  me 
to  express  this  view. 

It  was  interesting  to  see  how  seriously  the  crew  of  the  "Kestrel" 
took  our  bad  fortune.  These  men  had  never  seen  any  trolling  with 
the  rod  until  my  first  winter  with  them,  and  were  at  first  extremely 
doubtful  of  the  ability  of  the  small  lines  to  hold  big  fish.  After 
some  successes  they  became  extremely  contemptuous  of  those  who 
trolled  with  big.  white,  hand  lines,  and  certainlv  took  as  much  or  more 
satisfaction  in  every  big  fish  brought  in  than  I  did  myself.  One  of 
them  would  always  take  any  especially  large  and  fine  capture  on  his 
head,  and  walk  with  it  up  the  main  streets  of  the  town,  where  the  most 
people  were,  being  as  proud  of  the  attention  he  attracted  as  any  child 
with  a  new  suit  of  soldier  clothes.  Our  persistent  bad  luck  depressed 
them  in  equally  great  degree  and  they  would  almost  weep  when  one 


TWO  TALES  Or  TROUBLE.  19 


disaster  followed  another.  They  were  most  excellent  men,  gave  me 
the  very  best  service  that  was  in  them,  were  capital  sailors,  and  oblig- 
ing, diligent  and  efficient  to  a  very  high  degree.  Of  course,  like  all  the 
West  Indian  negroes,  they  are  to  a  certain  extent  like  children  and 
have  to  be  treated  as  such,  but  are  most  appreciative  of  kindness  and 
responsive  to  it.  The  life  of  these  poor  fellows  is  a  pretty  hard  one. 
My  captain,  who  is  an  unusually  good  man.  told  me  that  during  the 
previous  summer  he  went  through  four  months  without  being  able 
to  obtain  any  work  at  all.  (  )ne  of  my  crew,  who  lived  at  Governor's 
Harbor,  on  one  of  the  outer  islands,  from  which  nearly  all  the  best 
negroes  in  Nassau  come,  had  strained  his  back  in  unloading  a 
vessel,  his  wife  had  lx.-en  ill,  two  of  his  children  had  died,  and  I 
really  do  not  see  how  the  poor  fellow  had  lived.  When  he  came  to  me 
the  signs  of  starvation  were  deeply  marked  on  his  face.  My  contract 
did  not  cover  the  feeding  of  my  men  but,  on  going  out  for  all  day, 
1  always  took  lunch  enough  for  them  and  for  myself  and,  instead  of 
carrying  water,  took  a  number  of  partly  green  cocoanuts.  the  liquid 
inside  of  which  is  always  cool  and  refreshing.  When  a  nut  was 
emptied,  poor  Sweeten  would  say,  "Will  you  please  hand  it  here, 
Chief?"  and  make  up  some  of  his  arrears  of  food  from  the  creamy 
flesh  inside.  When  I  bade  him  goodbye  he  was  fat  and  shiny,  but  I 
fear  the  future  has  some  hard  times  for  him  and  for  them  all. 

One  day  we  were  down  by  North  Key  when  it  began  to  grow 
very  black  on  the  northern  horizon.  I  got  in  the  lines  and  started 
for  the  harbor,  but  had  just  crossed  the  bar  when  a  tremendous  squall 
struck  us.  We  had  no  ground  tackle  but  a  rather  light  grapnel,  which 
was  sufficient  for  all  ordinary  purpose?,  but  far  from  big  enough  to 
hold  the  boat  against  a  very  high  wind.  We  got  under  a  slight  lee  by 
the  lighthouse  point  and  anchored,  but  promptly  began  to  drag.  Then 
the  crew  hoisted  the  foresail  double  reefed,  hauled  in  the  grapnel. 
and  tried  to  beat  up  the  harbor,  but  with  this  small  canvas  the  In  >at 
would  not  come  about,  so  we  had  to  anchor  again  iust  in  front  of 
the  Colonial  Hotel.  The  wind  continued  to  increase  until  the  waves  in 
that  sheltered  harbor  were  running  six  feet  high  and  two  boats,  which 
had  been  anchored  near  by.  broke  their  moorings  and  went  on  the 
rocks  a  quarter  of  a  mile  west  of  us.  Then  the  "Kestrel"  began  to 
drag  her  anchor,  pulling  it  through  the  sand  for  a  while,  then  bringing 
up  when  the  fluke  caught  a  point  of  rock.  It  seemed  pretty  certain 
that  we  would  pile  up  on  the  rocks,  where  the  other  boat<  had  gone. 
and,  though  there  was  no  danger  to  us  except  that  of  a  complete  wet- 


20  TROriCAL   TROLLING. 


ting,  the  boat  would  certainly  be  destroyed.  T  got  down  into  the  fore- 
hold  and  pulled  tlui  hatch  shut,  where,  though  very  wet.  it  was  quite 
comfortable  out  of  the  sweep  of  the  wind,  and  there  lay  for  an  hour 
or  more.  Presently  there  was  a  shout  and,  putting  my  head 
out  of  the  hatch  1  found  a  row  boat,  half  full  of  water  and  manned 
by  a  couple  of  darkies.  My  crew  had  called  to  the  shore  and 
these  men  had  put  off,  well  up  the  harbor,  come  down  with  the 
run  of  the  sea  and  wind  and  got  alongside.  \Ye  bailed  out  the 
boat  as  well  as  possible,  I  climbed  into  its  stern,  and  we  started  off 
before  the  wind  and  sea  toward  the  Hat  rocks  on  shore.  There  a 
dozen  or  so  of  friendly  negroes  waded  into  the  water  up  to  their 
waists,  grabbed  the  boat,  hauled  her  up  on  the  Hat  rocks  and  I  stepped 
out.  Of  course  my  first  thought  was  for  my  crew,  who  were  out  in 
the  boat,  with  no  food,  not  much  clothing  and  thoroughly  wet.  and 
without  waiting  to  shift  my  drenched  clothes  I  got  word  to  the  white 
owner  of  the  boat  to  send  them  an  anchor,  with  food  and  drink  also  at 
my  expense.  This  imitation  of  a  man  came  down  to  the  harbor,  looked 
out  at  his  boat,  concluded  there  was  no  hope  of  saving  her,  and  did 
nothing  whatever.  My  crew  stayed  on  that  boat  without  food  and 
thoroughly  chilled  until  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  the  gale 
moderated,  they  were  able  to  land,  and  after  getting  dry  clothes  and 
a  cup  of  coffee  came  over  to  tell  me  the  story.  1'eing  pretty  thorough- 
ly indignant.  T  started  out  to  find  that  man  and  tell  him  my  opinion 
of  him  but,  perhaps  fortunately,  could  not  then  find  him  and  my 
anger  had  time  to  coo!  down  before  I  saw  him  again. 

The  bothers  during  this  winter  were  not  by  any  means  confined 
to  fishing.  Photography  has  always  been  a  pet  occupation  of  mine, 
and  during  the  last  year  I  had  taken  up  photographic  portraiture  and 
become  greatly  interested  in  it.  My  trunk  contained  a  large  kodak 
with  an  especially  fine  lens,  a  number  of  rolls  of  film,  and  a  new  metal 
tripod  bought  for  use  on  this  particular  trip,  the  wooden  ones  not 
being  trusted.  This  tripod  broke  a  leg  short  off  the  first  day  it  was 
used.  None  can  be  got  in  Nassau,  nor  could  it  be  repaired  there,  and 
over  a  month  passed  before  it  could  be  replaced  by  a  new  one  from 
the  north.  A\  ithin  the  first  ten  days  the  shutter  of  my  camera  began 
to  act  badly  and  soon  broke  down  entirely.  So  shutter  and  lens  had 
to  be  taken  oft.  sent  north  to  be  repaired,  and  were  not  returned  to- 
me for  nearly  six  weeks.  Xo  films  of  the  size  necessary  can  be  pur- 
chased in  Xassau.  and  orders  sent  to  the  north  seemed  to  meet  with 


THE   LITTLE   DOLPHIN. 


Tlt'O  TALES  (>l:  TKOl'HIM.  21 


very  slow  attention,  so  that  much  of  the  time  this  indispensable 
requisite  was  also  deficient.  My  photography  was.  therefore,  almost 
as  bad  a  failure  as  my  fishing. 

Having  had  experience  with  the  ways  of  black  servants,  mv  wife 
took  a  maid  down  with  her,  who  was  to  relieve  her  from  the  trouble 
of  issuance  of  supplies,  supervision  of  purchases  and  manv  other  house- 
hold duties.  She  was  particularly  faithful  and  conscientious  and  we 
were  all  very  fond  of  her.  After  having  been  in  Xassau  a  few 
weeks  she  took  to  her  bed  with  fever  and  weakness,  which  the 
doctor  decided  was  due  to  tuberculosis.  Instead  of  being  of  anv 
assistance  to  my  wife,  the  latter  was  obliged  to  nurse  the  girl  con- 
tinuously for  over  three  weeks,  until  I  grew  very  anxious  for  the 
effect  on  her  own  health.  Fortunately,  by  the  help  of  a  resident 
physician,  we  were  able  to  get  passage  for  her  on  a  comfortable 
steamer  going  north,  under  the  care  of  a  nurse  who  was  traveling 
hv  the  same  vessel.  All  this  we  felt  of  course  morally  bound  and  even 
glad  to  do.  but  naturally  we  got  no  service  from  her  and  were  put 
to  heavv  expense  on  her  account. 

So  hard  luck  pursued  me  and  mine  throughout  the  whole  winter, 
everything  seeming  to  go  wrong  when  there  was  the  slightest  opjx>r- 
tunity  to  do  so.  Such  continued  worries  and  annoyances  cause  a  nerve 
strain  that  cannot  be  beneficial  to  one's  health,  and  the  result  was 
that  I  came  home  again  far  kss  well  than  when  1  went.  So  my 
winter  in  Xassau  failed  to  fulfill  mv  hopes  in  fishing,  photography,  or 
health.  This  bad  fortune  continued  until  the  very  end.  finishing  with 
a  railwav  wreck  as  we  came  west  from  Xew  York. 

It  is  very  probable  that,  on  going  to  Xassau  another  vear.  one 
would  find  none  of  the  natural  annoyances  which  1  have  described  :  but 
1  intend  to  devote  mvself,  and  ask  fishermen  in  general  to  join  me 
in  this,  to  preventing  the  recurrence  of  such  troubles  as  come  from 
defective  tackle,  by  using  the  weapon  of  publicity.  From  now  on  I 
shall  trv  to  publish  the  names  of  everybody  who  sells  me  defective 
material,  and  also  of  those  who  sell  me  good  and  satisfactorv  stuff. 
and.  if  other  fishermen  will  do  the  same,  joining  in  a  crusade  for  the 
protection  of  fishermen,  honest  dealers  and  honest  manufacturers, 
against  unscrupulous  dealers  and  rascally  manufacturers,  who  make 
and  sell  tackle  that  thev  know  to  be  bad.  such  troubles  cannot  often 
recur. 

I  laving  given  so  long  an  account  of  my  had  luck,  let  me  now 
describe  one  of  the-  few  bright  -pots  that  lighted  up  the  prevailing  gloom. 


22  TROPICAL   TROLLING. 

The  ('olphin,  "coryphena,"  is  a  widely  roaming1  fish,  which  may 
occasionally  turn  up  in  any  part  of  the  ocean,  but  is  seldom  found  in 
any  particular  place.  I  had  never  hooked  or  caught  one,  nor  seen  a 
living  one,  although  a  friend  once  took  at  Nassau  three  small  ones 
which  he  showed  to  me.  The  fish  is  very  strangely  shaped,  the  head 
being  very  large  and  the  whole  body  thinning  away  toward  the  tail. 
The  back  fin  runs  nearly  the  whole  length  and  is  very  high,  and  the 
tail  is  deeply  forked,  narrow  in  the  blades  and  very  wide.  In  color 
the  fish  is  indescribably  beautiful.  The  great  back  fin  is  greenish 
purple  with  bright  blue  spots ;  the  body  varies  from  brilliant  gold  to 
old  gold,  profusely  studded  with  large  spots  of  the  most  brilliant 
blue,  and  the  fins  and  tail  are  golden.  These  colors  begin  to  fade  as 
soon  as  the  fish  is  dead  and,  within  an  hour,  all  brilliancy  has  dis- 
appeared and  the  fish  shows  only  various  shades  of  whitish,  yellow- 
ish, brown  and  grey,  the  blue  having  practically  all  vanished. 

As  April  came  on  the  wind  became  especially  light  and  uncertain, 
so  that  a  sail  boat  was  practically  useless  for  trolling,  and  I  was  some- 
times compelled  to  engage  a  motor  boat  to  get  any  fishing  at  all.  The 
first  day  this  happened  I  invited  a  couple  of  guests  to  go  with  me. 
It  was  very  rainy,  dark  and  dismal,  a  most  unusual  thing,  and  we  ran 
down  nearly  to  the  western  point  of  the  island  without  taking  a  single 
fish.  On  the  way  home,  however,  we  ran  into  a  school  of  small 
dolphin.  One  struck  the  hook,  made  a  tremendous  leap,  at  least  six 
feet  into  the  air  and  twenty  feet  long,  and  got  away.  Then  one  of 
my  friends  hooked  another.  Being  entirely  inexperienced  in  such 
fishing  he  was  pretty  nearly  helpless,  especially  with  such  a  ferociously 
active  quarry  on  the  end  of  his  line.  Seeing  that  he  was  making  heavy 
work  of  it  I  said,  "Do  you  want  me  to  take  your  rod?"  and  he 
answered,  "T  wish  to  the  Lord  you  would."  So  we  made  the  exchange 
and,  after  twenty  minutes  of  most  active  play,  rushing,  leaping  and 
general  cavorting,  the  fish  came  to  gaff.  My  camera  was  not  on 
board  and,  by  the  time  the  fish  had  reahed  the  house,  the  sun  was 
down,  but  I  hurried  to  get  the  camera,  hung  up  the  fish  and  took 
half  a  dozen  pictures,  varying  the  exposure  on  account  of  the  uncer- 
tainty of  the  light.  One  of  these  gave  a  satisfactory  negative,  which 
is  reproduced  in  this  article.  This  picture  was  taken  about  three 
hours  after  the  fish  left  the  water  and  the  colors  are  very  dull.  This 
particular  dolphin  was  thirty-seven  inches  long  and  weighed  fourteen 
pounds.  I  did  not  know  its  edible  qualities,  but  had  this  one  cooked 


THE    BIG    DOLPHIN. 


23  TWO  TALES  OF  TROUBLE. 


and  tried  him.  He  proved  most  excellent,  the  flesh  being  finely  flav- 
ored, tender  and  containing  dark  layers  of  high  flavor  very  like  those 
of  a  shad. 

The  last  two  days  of  my  fishing  I  engaged  another  motor  boat, 
somewhat  smaller  and  a  good  deal  handier  than  the  first  one.  It  had 
the  grave  objection  that  it  was  covered  by  a  fixed  rOof,  supported  on 
stanchions,  and  this  made  it  very  difficult  for  the  fisherman  to  handle 
his  rod.  Within  half  an  hour  after  leaving  the  harbor  something  very 
heavy  was  hooked,  which  I  hoped  and  prayed  was  my  desired  big 
kingfish,  but  which  finally  turned  out  to  be  a  forty-three  pound  amber- 
jack,  whose  picture  is  also  reproduced  herewith.  This  fish  made  a 
most  tremendous  fight  and,  as  my  line  was  already  badly  weakened 
and  I  had  no  confidence  in  it,  it  was  necessary  to  use  very  great  care 
and  spend  a  great  deal  of  time  in  playing  him.  Nothing  else  touched 
my  bait  for  a  considerable  time,  so  we  ran  down  to  the  westward  until 
opposite  North  Key,  about  five  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  harbor. 
Here  there  was  a  lot  of  floating  gulf  weed,  and.  for  fear  of  fouling  it, 
I  began  to  reel  in  my  line.  When  twenty-five  or  thirty  yards  were 
still  out  there  was  a  swirl  in  the  water  and  Captain  John  called, 
"There's  a  dolphin  after  it !"  I  ran  out  a  few  feet  of  line,  let  my  bait 
go  back,  saw  the  fish  whirl  up.  snatch  it  and  turn  away,  and  struck 
him  as  one  would  a  trout.  The  instant  response  was  a  tremendous  leap 
in  the  air  and  I  saw  that  he  was  a  big  fellow.  Then  began  a  most 
furious  fight.  He  would  run  out  my  line  almost  to  the  end,  leap  six 
feet  from  the  water  (  and  he  was  a  magnificent  sight  with  the  bright 
tropical  sun  on  his  brilliant  color)  then  turn  sideways,  opposing  his 
great  width  so  that  I  could  not  recover  any  line  at  all.  Then  he  swam 
in  circles,  our  handy  boat  following  him  in  the  opposite  way,  so  that 
we  waltzed  together  over  the  bosom  of  the  deep,  and  every  now  and 
then  he  jumped.  I  found  it  almost  impossible  to  handle  him,  from 
my  seat  under  the  edge  of  the  roof,  which  constantly  interfered  with 
the  use  of  my  rod.  so  kept  a  pull  on  him  as  well  as  possible,  and 
scrambled  out  on  the  little  stern  deck,  I  holding  hard  to  the  fish  and 
Captain  John  holding  hard  to  me  to  prevent  my  going  overboard. 
There  I  dropped  into  a  sitting  posture  and  had  considerably  more 
freedom,  but  the  rudder  chains  ran  along  the  top  of  this  little  deck 
and  I  had  to  sit  on  them,  giving  attention  both  to  handling  my  fish  and 
to  easing  up  so  that  the  rudder  could  be  worked  under  me.  It  took  at 
least  three-quarters  of  an  hour  to  kill  that  dolphin,  but  finally  he  came 
up  closer  and  closer  and,  at  last.  Captain  John  jerked  the  big  steel 


Y/v't  >/'R'.lI.    TROLl.lXd.  -J4 

gaff  into  him  ami  lugged  him  aboard.  (  )n  that  day  T  had  the  camera 
along',  so  instantly  dropped  my  rod,  got  the  camera  out  of  its 
case,  adjusted  focus  and  stop,  scrambled  up  on  top  of  the  hou>e.  and 
had  Captain  John  stand  up  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  after-deck 
and  hold  the  tish  in  the  air.  The  resultant  photograph  printed 
herewith  proved  most  satisfactory,  showing  the  contra>t  of  color  so 
far  as  black  and  white  can  do  it.  Such  a  picture  can  onlv  be  obtained 
bv  a  remarkable  combination  of  circumstances.  The  dolphin  could  not 
possibly  be  handled  in  an  ordinary  sail  boat,  so  one  must  be  a  ^killed 
fisherman,  with  proper  tackle,  in  a  motor  boat,  in  the  tropics,  on  a 
sunny  day,  provided  with  a  camera  and  knowing  how  to  use  it,  a  big 
dolphin  must  come  along,  take  the  bait,  he  fought  and  landed,  and  be 
photographed  as  soon  as  he  stops  kicking.  That  all  these  things  should 
happen  together  is  not  likely  to  occur  twice,  even  if  a  man  fishes  dili- 
gently for  a  considerable  number  of  years. 

This  particular  dolphin  was  fifty-seven  inches  long,  seventeen  inches 
deej)  and  weighed  thirty-five  pounds,  which  my  captain  says  is  about 
as  large  as  they  grow,  but  this  may  or  may  not  be  correct.  His  widely 
forked  tail  was  one  foot  ten  inches  from  tip  to  tip.  I  have  never  met 
the  tarpon  or  the  tuna,  but  in  strength,  agility,  beauty  and  all  other 
qualities  that  make  up  a  game  fish,  the  dolphin  exceeds  any  that  I 
know  from  experience. 

Cleveland.  (  )hio.   lime  '^th.  1!»11. 


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